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He climbs off his horse and leads it around to be tied up with the others. “And I told you that I was coming, no matter what. You need as many people around you as possible to keep you safe.”

“I have plenty of guards to keep me safe. If I’d wanted more people, I would have brought them along. You have deliberately gone against my wishes.”

He shrugs, and I want to smack him.

“Well, I’m here now. You might as well make the most of me.”

I point in the direction he’s just come. “No, you can turn back.”

His eyebrows raise. “What? In the dark? Alone? You can’t expect me to do that. It would be a death sentence.”

I growl my annoyance, but I know he’s right. As much as Prince Ruarok frustrates me, I don’t want to see him dead.

24

RUAROK

I don’t letit show, but I’m relieved to have found them. I lost the riding party a couple of times and was concerned I’d end up out here alone overnight. I didn’t much like my chances if that happened.

Balthorne steps in. “The princess instructed you to turn back.”

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” I bristle.

Fucking Balthorne, with his perfect fucking hair, and his broad shoulders and goddamned wings. Screw him.

“I’m merely passing on the princess’s instructions.”

“I can hear her perfectly well. I am Prince Ruarok, son of King Themaris, first king of his name and ruler of the lands of Askos, and I don’t need anyone else to tell me what to do.”

“The princess?—”

I lift a hand to cut him off. He’s lucky it isn’t my fist. “Until the princess is crowned, she and I are equals. Do you understand?”

He shoots her a look, but I take quick step forward,closing the gap so there is only a sliver of air between us. He might be bigger and taller, but there is a danger about me that doesn’t exist within him. I have the capacity to cheat and be cruel, but he doesn’t have that quality.

“Don’t look at her,” I growl. “You reply to me. Understand?”

He gives the slightest of nods. “Yes, Prince Ruarok.”

I half-expect Taelyn to step in, but she doesn’t. She understands that on this, at least, I am right.

She lets out a sigh. “It’s getting late, and I’m tired. I am going to retire to my tent to get some sleep. I suggest everyone else does the same.”

“I’ll stand guard over you, Princess,” Balthorne says to her. “You can sleep in peace.”

“There’s no need,” I reply. “I will watch over her.”

He puts his shoulders back. “I am head of the guard. It’s my job.”

She steps in. “You can both watch over me. Balthorne, take the first four hours, and Ruarok, take the four hours until morning. That way you will both have the chance to rest.”

I begrudgingly agree. I left the castle long before dawn and have been riding ever since. I’m dog-tired, and I would have struggled to stay awake to protect the princess.

I’m also keen to get close to the fire, to warm my hands, and eat something hot. The cold of these wildlands has worked its way down to my bones, and it feels as though I’ll never warm up.

I find a place around the fire and jerk my head in greeting at those guards still seated. I wonder what they think of me—the prince whose own father locked himaway all these years. It angers me that they might consider me less than a man.

Is that why Balthorne is so protective of Taelyn? Does he believe the stories that were told about me, and so he thinks I might try my hand at killing her again? Not that I even tried to kill her in the first place. Perhaps the thought had crossed my mind, but that had been before I’d known who she was.